The invention relates to a device for coupling an implement drawn along on the ground with a tractor and for transferring driving power from the power take-off shaft of the tractor to the implement coupled herewith.
It is common practice to couple implements having, at least in the operational state, a fixed supporting point on the ground, for example, wheels or drag members, with the drawhook or the three-point lift of a tractor, the agricultural implement being driven via a coupling or propeller shaft between the power take-off shaft of the tractor and the input shaft of the implement. The disadvantage of the use of a propeller shaft is that the implement can be arranged behind the tractor only at strictly limited angles, the angle being determined by the or each universal joint in the coupling shaft. Therefore when driving though bends, for example, at the head of a field to be worked, where the agricultural tractor and the agricultural implement have to follow a different track, the driver has to switch off the drive of the agricultural implement in order to avoid damage of the driving mechanism. In addition, even by normal use the propeller shaft is subject to comparatively heavy wear due to the constant variation of the angle or the distance between the tractor and the agricultural implement as a result of unevennesses of the ground or of working on a talus. For road transport the propeller shaft has usually to be removed.